Cafe 54

Visiting Tucson, Arizona last week and decided to try some lunch places downtown around Pennington Street. Stopped into Cafe 54 and found the atmosphere to be bright and cheery with plenty of artwork to capture anyone's attention. We ordered the Ceasar Salad with chicken and The Hero's Gyro with grilled gyro beef. Both were excellent with a great choice of Green Tea and fountain drinks. We ordered at the front area where we were met with cheerful employees to take our order. In moments, our food was brought out with a smile along with some of their famous rosemary rolls with butter & olive oil. The prices for their entrees are totally reasonable. Cafe 54 is a great find and they appear to be serving a great purpose for their community here in Tucson.

I have been to this wonderful restaurant several times over the years, but never took the time to review; however, after a recent visit, I felt compelled to offer my opinion. We went last night, after normal hours, for a special event, hopefully the 1st of many more to come. This is the 20th Anniversary for Cafe 54 and I pray their food and mission will continue for another 20+ years.We were treated to a Gourmet 4 Course Dinner, consisting of an appetizer (Tuna Poke/Pork Belly), salad/soup (Strawberry Green Salad/Carrot Ginger Soup), entree (Mahi Mahi with Crabmeat/Ribeye) and dessert (Key Lime Pie/ Flourless Chocolate Torte). My husband and I each ordered differently in order to sample it all. We were NOT disappointed... every morsel we ate was cooked to perfection. The atmosphere, friendly diners, friendly staff (even the trainees) all created a wonderful evening.The Cafe hopes to continue these dinners in different formats and we pray they do! Thank you for a lovely experience and very full tummies!

Not only is this place a nonprofit that is doing good things in the community, it is an outstanding restaurant! From the second we walked in, we were warmly greeted, and assisted with our order. We both ordered the salad niçoise, which was huge and tasty. The salmon was delicious, as was the dressing, which was a mustard vinaigrette, and complemented the other components. There were Kalamata olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, sliced cold potatoes, green beans, and a hard boiled egg. I did manage to finish every bite. We were also offered a roll before our lunches came, which came warm and with butter on the side. We were checked on to make sure everything was okay. Someone even brought my water to me when I forgot my glass up front. I highly encourage checking this place out for lunch. Because they're not open for dinner.

Great food atmosphere and a very worthwhile institution! Try the Gyros! They also help people get into the work force and succeed in their own lives!Bacon Avocado Cheeseburger

A wonderful surprise. My son and I made our first visit today and were delighted. He had the Korean Bowl and I had the Salmon Nicoise Salad and both were outstanding.The salad was beautiful, crisp and cold with a perfectly cooked hot salmon strip. The Korean Bowl was a great combination of flavors and was served hot. Both dishes were generous servings with quality ingredients.Service was friendly and efficient. We were made to feel welcome and valued.Downtown parking can be challenging, but it is worth the effort. We'll be nack.

I came in here for a late lunch. I really like the relaxing vibes as I walked in. I ordered a California club on whole-grain with fruit. I chose a nice little corner of the restaurant, which was really nice because I got to look at all the artwork for sale. A waiter and a waitress brought me a rosemary roll with the option of butter or vinegar and oil while I waited for my food. This roll was to die for! I'm not just saying that because I was hungry. My sandwich was pretty good. I'll probably ask for lightly toasted but that's just my preference. The waiter was so kind to check on me. I was interested in getting a half dozen. He checked with the kitchen and they weren't able to because it was not close enough to closing. I can appreciate that they wanted to make sure they did not run out. He did let me know I could call in the morning and preorder. All in all 10/10!

While I would like to give more stars based on the premise of this place, we didn't have a fantastic experience. When we arrived at lunch time and the place was pretty empty, we wondered if it was because everyone was working remotely or something else.We ordered from the board and I got a salad and the other 3 got burgers. The burgers all were cheese with bacon and your basic toppings. One of my kids ordered a burger with no tomato or onion. When they brought the food, all of them had no bacon, no tomato and no onion. There was lots of confusion and after getting the tomato and onion on 2 of the burgers, they all gave up on getting the bacon. We also had to ask for silverware.The food was really good. I got the mediterranean salad and it was chocked full of kalamata olives as well as other yummy ingredients. The burgers were hot and fresh and the fries were perfect!I realize this is a training place, but if the staff doesn't serve the right food and it's hard to get a correction, nobody will return. We were visiting the area and hoped to have the same experience as the recent reviewers.

A friend and I were walking around downtown, and came upon this little eatery. The chalkboard announced the day's specials, which sounded great to us, so we went in to order. Our food (salmon salad for me and a burger for my friend) was beautifully plated, colorful, and delicious, tho' the (perfectly grilled and wonderfully delicious) salmon on my salad could have been just a little larger. It was only after our orders came that I realized that this is a non-profit, training program. As if the yummy food weren't enough reason to support this cafe!

The food was excellent. The prices were great and their mission is awesome! Nice touch with local artists work displayed. Nice location downtown.

The burger was cooked very well, and tasty. The fries were better than Mickey Dees. Nice atmosphere and friendly staff. Will definitely return.